BBC Strictly Come Dancing's Nadiya Bychkova breaks silence on Kai Widdrington romance with four-word comment

Nadiya Bychkova has addressed her split from Kai Widdrington for the first time after the Strictly Come Dancing couple quietly went their separate ways.

She's revealed things are still frosty between her and her ex, who began dating in 2022 and split earlier this year, ahead of returning to the BBC One dance cotnest for its 20th anniversary year.

Rumours about the end of their relationship came just six months after they had posed for photos in a glossy magazine shoot. In December 2023 Kai had said: "I just knew Nadiya was The One. She's the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, but the real beauty is not just what you see on the outside it's the person on the inside I fell in love with.

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"People often misjudge her and just see a stunning blonde girl, but she's more than that. She's the kindest person I've ever met in my entire life, and the most amazing mother."

Nadiya shares seven-year-old daughter Mila with her former fiance, Slovenian footballer Matija Skarabot and her relationship with Kai was her first romance since she split from the father of her child. In the magazine interview in December she said: "When you're a mum, you don't jump into a relationship saying: 'I'm in love,' and that's it. It's a big responsibility and I'm very protective of my daughter."

Now, when asked about the break up and if they were friends, professional dancer Nadiya confirmed: "We are not friends". She elaborated: "We work together but we are not friends and that's ok.

"One thing I can tell you is that when you see me dancing with him it will be amazing because I'm a professional," before she declined to comment further on their break up, reports the Mirror.

The former couple, who met on the show in 2021, have not previously spoken about their split and are expected to be dancing on the show together again in the coming months of the series.

Nadiya, 35, was speaking at the Mirror's Pride of Britain awards which she said was "one of her favourite nights of the year". She attended the bash with her celeb partner from the series this year, Olympian Tom Dean, along with other stars from the show. Nadiya and Tom were this first couple to be voted off the series this year. Nadiya said: "It's never nice to leave early. Tom and I have had so much support from people and I get the feeling that the viewers wanted to see what he was capable of and so did I. Someone had to go and it's just a shame it was Tom."

"We are going to keep dancing though. I am going to teach him a salsa with some big lifts. Not for TV, just so he can see he can be brilliant."

Asked who would win the Glitterball on the BBC dancing show this year, she added: "There is so much talent this year and the standard is so high it's incredible. I love the show so much and it's great to have a front row seat every weekend. I have no idea who is going to win but I know we are in a brilliant few months of dancing."